In the 1960’s, Bandura conducted a behaviour experiment to explore how when children witness a certain behaviour, they will replicate this.
In today’s society, this seems pretty obvious. So we can look at this idea in terms of how actions represented through the Media can have effect on their audiences.
Bandura called the behaviour we replicate from cinema or television; Symbolic Modelling. (PASSIVE AUDIENCES)
“Human behaviour is to a large extent, socially transmitted, either deliberately or inadvertently”
— Bandura (1973)
Video Violence
The media relies on violence to quickly engage audience attention
Attention factors
The video game player can control avatars to carry out violent acts. This causes a direct correlation between a certain action having violent effects. This translates into the real world and individual behaviour.
Players are rewarded for violent actions
Video game designers create a positive response to violent actions. For example, for so many kills in a game, the player would receive a certain score. This generates a negative action, positive response loop which feeds violent behaviour in the real world.
Violence is portrayed without moral justification or explanation
Violent acts featured in video games are often unprovoked or lack justification (they are casual/normalized). Perhaps this could desensitise players to violence or the effects of violent acts in their lives.
Video games are immersive
Video games are often played alone, without the input of others.
Video games are addictive
Playing video games for increased duration means that players are exposed to negative behaviours more often, this becomes addictive.
Realistic violence
Graphic designers have ways of making video games look even more realistic (or hyper-real). This means that the violent acts are similar to real life, meaning it is increasingly difficult to find the division between simulation and true being.
ROLAND BARTHES – Concept 1: Denotation and Connotation
Barthes’ tells us by using a ‘denotative reading’ is how viewers decode media products. This occurs when a reader recognises the literal and physical content, e.g. an older man with his fist in the air, the style and colour of clothing. After this, readers quickly move beyond the recognition of the product and engage with what he calls ‘cognitive decoding.’ This refers to the deeper understanding prompted by advertisers to the emotional, symbolic/ideological significances, e.g. the older man’s fist may suggest defiance or aggression, the clothes may suggest a class.
WHEN LOOKING AT A MEDIA TEXT:
Image Features:
Look out for:
POSE (Subject positioning, stance or body language)
Breaking the 4th wall creates: confrontational/aggressive or invitational feel. Off screen gaze: Right side – adventure/optimism. Left side – regret/nostalgia. Body language: strong/weak/passive/active/open/closed Subject Positioning: Where the person/people stand. Proxemics: Their distance from people/things.
MISE-EN-SCENE (Props, costume and setting)
Symbolic Props: rarely accidental Pathetic fallacy: weather connotations to add meaning – character’s thoughts/tone Costume Symbolism: Stereotypes help to decipher a character’s narrative function
LIGHTING CONNOTATIONS
High-Key lighting: no shadows – positive and upbeat with a lighter feel Low-Key lighting: Serious/ sad/moody connotations. Chiaroscuro lighting: contrast lighting (light sharply cuts through darkness) – hopelessness/mystery Ambient: infers realism
COMPOSITIONAL EFFECTS (Shot distance, positioning of subjects in the frame)
Long shots: dominated their environment Close-ups: intensifies emotions/impending drama Open/closed frames: open- freedom, closed – entrapment
POSTPRODUCTION EFFECTS
Colour control: Red- anger, white – innocence High saturation: Vibrant colours – cheerful Desaturation: Dull colours – serious/sombre
Barthes’ recognised that text also gave meaning. He says it helps to ‘anchor’ image meanings in advertisements. Without anchorage, media imagery is likely to produce polysemic connotations (multiple meanings).
“a vice which holds the connotated meanings from proliferating”
Concept 2: The media’s ideological effect
Barthes’ suggests media replaces/replicates functions of myth making. The press, television, advertising, radio – convey the same sort of authority as myths and induce similar ideological effects. Anonymisation of myths shows it’s a collective view rather than singular –> media replicates this.
Naturalisation: Media products present ideas as natural/fact/common sense. When a range of media texts repeat the same idea, audience believe it is a fact rather than perspective, social norm.
Media myths are reductive: Media simplifies and reduces/purifies ideas to make it more digestible. – message reduction discourages audiences to question and analyse thoroughly.
Media myths reinforce existing social power structures: “the oppressor has everything, his language is rich, multiform, supple.” Those who have power tend to control the myth making process through the privileged access – maintain illusion that the system that benefits the powerful is naturally ordered and unchangeable.
C.S PEIRCE:
Peirce did not believe that signification was a straightforward binary relationship between a sign and an object, he viewed this innovative part of his triad as how we perceive or understand a sign and its relationship to the object it is referring to. The representamen in Peirce’s theory is the form the sign takes, which is not necessarily a material or concrete object. Peirce theorised that we interpret symbols according to a rule, a habitual connection. ‘The symbol is connected with its object because the symbol-user and a sign exists mainly due to the fact that it is used and understood. Peirce’s triad of signs concludes of:
Icon – A sign that looks like an object/person, e.g picture of a lamp.
Index – A sign that has a link to its object, e.g smoke and fire.
Symbol – A sign that has a more random link to its object, e.g colour, shape
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE:
According to Saussure theory of signs, signifier and signified make up of signs. A sign is composed of both a material form and a mental concept. The signifier is the material form, i.e., something that can be heard, seen, smelled, touched or tasted, whereas the signified is the mental concept associated with it. C.S Peirce based his research off of Saussure.
Pastiche – Work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist
Parody – A work or performance that imitates another work with irony or ridicule.
Bricolage – A creation from the diverse selection of items within the world.
Intertextuality – A link/relationship set up to deliberately bring two texts together.
Referential – A piece containing references or allusions to another piece.
Surface and style over substance and content –
Metanarrative – A piece that contains narratives of history, experience, knowledge or grand ideas.
Hyperreality – Distinguishing the real from the signifier of reality.
Simulation (sometimes termed by Baudrillard as ‘Simulacrum’) – A representation or imitation of a person or thing.
Consumerist Society – The high value of items which people buy, despite not needing them.
Fragmentary Identities –
Alienation – A state of being alone and without company.
Implosion – Something violently collapsing.
cultural appropriation –
Reflexivity –
Postmodernism: The truth is slowly depleting, as everything in the world becomes a slightly changed duplicate of another, we are going to live in a duplicated world with no real solid values beneath it.
The truth no longer is the truth, it is a pastiche of it.
3 Example of parody in “Love Box in your living room:
Lord Wreath played by Paul Whitehouse The “Peaky Blinders” scene played by Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield, “AND HAIR CUTS” obvious joke about The Peaky Blinders. The play on “Top Gear’s Smallest car episode” with the small 1 seater car joke.
Pastiche
Re-creation of a western film in the barn scene with infected pod.
Parody
Parody of the film within the film.
Bricolage
Many different times within the film, 1950s, 1997,
Intertextuality
The link between each game being obviously set out, i.e.. the make out scene in the back of the game room “Building up emotional tension for the next game”, the diseased bio pod within the barn scene that came with them to the ski resort scene to be set on fire, the killing game creator from the story to the real film world.
Referential
Itself. Actors speak about the film story in the film. At the end in the circle of game testers, describing their characters and what they did/if they were satisfied.
Surface and style over substance and content
Metanarrative
Each scene seemed to be in a different era, the gas station scene was to be in the 1950s, midnight, big green trucks, nothing too advanced. 1997, where the film was made and where the testers are set to be. 1970s with the game room scene, very retro game room, looking like the very first game shops that originated in the 70s
Hyperreality
The actors can’t distinguish the game from real life, after many scenes of different very realistic scenes, they kill people, stab people, fight, make out, set fire to things. Then when it comes out the final scene, the dog isn’t what they think it is, it actually has 2 pistols strapped to its body, then when they kill the “game creator” the other “players” do not react, no screaming, no scares, they are not coded to, apart from the one character (the Chinese man) who was “coded” to react. This is an obvious indication that they are still in the game, its an “unfinished game playtest” so no wonder some of the characters don’t react, or have bad dialog, or bad accents or need their name screamed at them for attention or the specific voice line to move the game forward.
Simulation (sometimes termed by Baudrillard as ‘Simulacrum’)
The whole film is a imitation of itself, each scene having something to do with the last however being set in a different place and time every time. Sometimes a gas station, a hotel room, a ski resort, a church hall. All the scenes have a the same actors and people but they have different characters and plots.
Consumerist Society
The characters within the game and the testers, actually don’t need that game sim, they don’t need any sort of games, however they’re still there trying it, wanting to buy it.
Fragmentary Identities
Allegra plays different characters along the whole film, a assertive female, a excited teenager, assassin, nervous murderer.
Alienation
Implosion
The way it very quickly goes from trying to figure out what’s going on within the “game” to losing trust and killing everyone in the idea of winning and then at the final scene, killing the “creator”.
BBC Board of Trustees, DG (Lord Reith), Multimedia, transnational, not a monopoly, concentration of ownership
– owned by the public, everyone is a shareholder.
CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), Private Company, Multimedia conglomerate, transnational(Yes), monopoly(No),
U.S. COMPANY
example of concentration of ownership i.e. a few companies own everything – oligopoly / cartel (??), vertical & horizontal integration (??)
HABERMAS
Transformation of the public sphere, media is constantly changing – BBC is adapting, BBC intention enshrined in their ethos, profit is not a priority – they put money back into programmes so Quality is important.
Fits notion of transforming the public. Therefore more paternalistic, give you what you need instead of what you want.
Private business, likely to prioritise making profit. Quality is not as important as long as a profit is made. This profit will not go back into programmes. Does not fit the notion of transforming the public. Less paternalistic, gives you what you want if it makes them money.
CHOMSKY
Second filter (advertising) The BBC does not run ads in the UK
Second filter (advertising) CBS runs ads which helps them accrue profit
REGULATION
OFCOM, BBC Charter governed by parliament, license fee regulates BBC, BBC Ethos – educate, inform and entertain (Reith)
BBC has a left wing, libertarian ideology (??)
Federal Communications Commission regulates private businesses i.e. not necessarily in public interest
AUDIENCE (ACTIVE/PASSIVE)
Audiences are more active, they are not just given programmes that they want but are given what they need (Paternalism)
Audiences are more passive, they are only shown the programmes that they want to allow in order for CBS to make a profit.
AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD)
The two-step flow of communication model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them, to a wider population. It was first introduced by sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld in 1944
This relates to the specific textual example of Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health
The mass media flow ideas into the PSB BBC, flowing their ideas through various outlets as they are a multimedia convergence. They help promote their message through various opinion leaders such as Stormzy, Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health
Can use opinion leaders to make message more relevant
SPECIFIC TEXTUAL EXAMLES
Prince William and Kate presenting a special newsbeat edition on mental health Kanye article.
^ This proves that the BBC care more about the viewers and want to supply a service that is educational, informal and entertaining
blurred codes of drama and news. Programme starts with title music, announcer introduction ‘Mercury Theatre Company presents . . . ‘ followed by Orson Welles prologue to War of the Worlds .. .
AUDIENCE (HALL)
Reception Theory –
GERBNER
The Cultivation Theory suggests heavy television exposure will have a significant influence on our perception of the real world. The more we see a version of reality being depicted on the screen, the more we will believe it is an accurate reflection of society.
Cultivation theory links as the newly heavy influence of new media productions, through the introduction of radio, shows an example of this theory as it could have affected the public in a large way as a lack of knowledge and an imbedded naiveness that may of allowed the public to be victim to this hysteria produced by War of the worlds.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
New Technologies mean that the BBC is faced with more competition.
Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps.
Radio
CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE
CURRAN
– “depended on a set of linked and radical expansions” – “the BBC creating an image of its audience as ‘participants’ in the great affairs of the nation…”
– Since the BBC is a PSB it uses the money it makes to improve itself and further benefit the public with a massive majority of different opinions straying away from lack of creativity that large conglomerates supply in which only function as a motive to generate a profit, which differs from the BBC.
– Private Company, Multimedia conglomerate. This means that CBS only operates as a function to generate a profit and please the shareholders, in which can lack creativity and care for the public. It will generate any kind of story in hopes to generate a profit, meaning they can lack integrity.
SEATON
Seaton makes us aware of the power of the media in terms of big companies who own too much.
– Commercial broadcasters selling audiences to products NOT audiences to programs like the BBC. (ie no adverts on BBC). Meaning that the BBC are not chasing big exaggerated stories and appeals to informed citizens who want knowledge.
Seaton talks about rise and inevitable need for competition with new technologies. – Providing choice and more entertainment for wider audiences perhaps.
the allusion of Choice – “Choice, without positive direction is a myth, all too often the market will deliver more -but only more of the same”
CBS, as well as other businesses, create different media products as a sole motive to generate a profit. Meaning that when they produce programs, they will only generate products that they know will perform well, creating this idea on the illusion of choice, whereas in reality it is a well thought out process which involves repeated actions and choices in which have been largely successful in practice.
Owned by the BBC, the BBC is owned and payed for the by the public. Payed through TV licenses BBC Charter: Educate, Inform, Entertain
Owned by CBS, CBS is payed for by Paramount global. Privately owned, available to everyone.
Regulation
Regulated by Ofcom which receives it regulation rules through the UK gov. Also regulates off of the BBC’s Charter.
CBS is regulated by the The Federal Communications Commission (US FCC)
Habermas
Transformation of the public sphere, the BBC (when making money) re-invests it into BBC to make it better, adapt it and sticks to their charter tighter.
Sticks to making a profit rather than bettering itself. Does not transform the public sphere, the polar opposite of the BBC.
Chomsky
5 filters of mass media: 1.Structures of ownership – BBC owned by the public, regulated by their own Ethos. 2.The role of advertising – Ads for the BBC are on social media platforms displaying what they offer, for example the “Trust is earned” publication video they made. 3.Links with ‘The Establishment’ – BBC isn’t directly connected to the government however it is regulated by a set of rules the government chooses. 4.Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’ – None really applies as the BBC specialises in its truth. 5.Uniting against a ‘common enemy’
Audience
Active consumption, choosing to listen in and create opinions and thoughts based on the stories which are on the media/radio from newsbeat.
Passive consumption, taking in what war of the worlds is saying and just believing it.
Lazarfeld
Harry and Kate promoting mental Health on mental Health Day, Stormzy being put on the show. This uses opinion leaders so that its not the BBC directly telling the audience how to feel, its their favourite influencers.
It is written by Orsen Wells, who was a popular author uses the two step flow of directly injecting the idea of entertain through War Of the Worlds, at 0:20 it is announced that Orsen will be reading the show and is also announced it is a story from the Theatre on Air.
Stuart Hall
New Technology
Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps.
Cross media creation
Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps. Can be read and understood on different platforms for the younger audiences to access it anywhere and whenever they want.
The show was originally published as a book in the UK and US in 1897, then a radio show in 1938 and then a TV series in 1988
Curran
“profit-driven motives take precedence over creativity” CBS creating the idea of a a massive panic to create a huge amount of money over the idea of making a good entertainment.
Seaton
POWER AND MEDIA: patterns of ownership and control are the most significant factors in how the media operate. Controls how they want to target audiences that are informed and want to learn. Seaton says “Sells audiences to advertisers not products to audiences” which the BBC doesn’t do, they do this by sticking to their “educate” ethos and making stories to educate.
Provides to audiences the idea of entertainment without sticking to any sort of ethos or education. Only entertainment and selling a big story which we don’t know is true (I.E people running out of their homes in fear of the story that they are hearing.
– Owned by BBC -First Director General: Lord Reith -Multi-media/cross media -Not a monopoly – Left wing libertarian views Concentration of ownership- small number of firms own radio or tv – Paternalist approach – owned by public- Tv license
(private company, cross-media conglomerate, an example of concentration of ownership i.e. just a few companies own everything – oligopoly/cartel)
Habermas
Chomsky
Regulation
– Government is at an ‘arms length’ from the media, they don’t control it but advise and ‘look after’ the content, public.
Audience (active/passive)
Lazerfeld
Hall
New technology
Cross Media Convergance
Curran
-Theory of Liberal free press
some general ideas: 1. concerns about the commercial interest of big companies (prioritising profits over social concerns) 2. concentration of ownership – although not monopolies, the small number of big companies is not good for 3. competition 4. Diverse range of voices (plurality) 5. audience choices
Seaton
–Commercial broadcasting is based on the sale of audiences to advertisers” – Commercial broadcasters (such as ITV) need to secure long term advertising revenue to survive programming. – No adverts when watching BBC – need for an active audience. – money wins (profit-driven) – accountability –who looks after the BBC: Annan Report 1980 “on balance the chain of accountability is adequate” -independence – ie keeping free from state control “without a commitment to public service, broadcasters are increasingly vulnerable to political interference”
-Seaton talks about rise and inevitable need for competition with new technologies – which provides choice -Provides more entertainment for wider audiences -WoW targets mainstream entertainment seeking audiences maybe linking to popular culture?
the allusion of Choice– “Choice, without positive direction is a myth, all too often the market will deliver more -but only more of the same”
The main focus, rather than your typical news, is news towards teenagers and “twentysomethings”.
Launched 10th September 1973
The name was taken from another radio program, “Radio Coraline”, this is because one of Radio Coralines workers “Roger Gale” worked on Newsbeat with the BBC
Broadcasted on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network.
15-19, 84% listeners 12-15
Media Industries:
Younger audience receiving news that is regulated by the government.
As well as this, even if the younger audience doesn’t use the radio, newsbeat is multi platform (Radio, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) so the younger audience have regulated influencers everywhere they spend time in.
There is no difference between the BBC news and newsbeat, due to the fact its all being regulated by the same people, at the end of the day, they’re going to receive the same news in a different way.
Funded by the tax from the government, hypothecated tax, money from a specific tax goes towards the BBC for education.
Media Audiences:
BBC’s Ethos of Educate, Entertain and Inform is cemented within newsbeat as it encases all their key values. Entertains the younger audiences with celebrity news, informs them of dangerous and or threatening news, and educates them with other news.
Stuart Hall, 3 types of audiences. Those who accept: Teenager and young people who listen or watch online, taking Newsbeats information and believing/accepting it. Those who argue: The audience which listens/reads but then disagrees with some things. Those who reject: The audience which entirely REJECTS what newsbeat has to offer.
To bring in the younger audience, Newsbeat changed the language and style they present in, bringing in teens by using street slang and making stories on popular, younger generation topics, like Tik Tok, Celebrities and Young topics.
Newsbeat also exemplifies the challenges facing the BBC as a public service broadcaster that needs to appeal to a youth audience within a competitive media landscape.
a transitional media product which reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape
a traditional radio programme with regular, scheduled broadcast times, but it is also available online after broadcast
The broadcast itself and the use of digital platforms provides opportunities for audience interaction
MEDIA INDUSTRIES
Newsbeat as a BBC News product with bulletins are broadcast on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1 Xtra and BBC Asian Network
The funding of BBC Radio through the license fee, concept of hypothecated tax
Issues around the role of a public service broadcaster within a competitive, contemporary media landscape
The distinctive nature of the programme connected to its public service remit
Arguments on the need for addressing a youth audience already catered for commercially
The influence of new technology on media industries – Newsbeat as multi–platform media product. eg
Website
Twitter
Instagram
The regulation of the BBC via Ofcom and the governance of the BBC
Those who consume the media are more susceptible to messages.
Repeated exposure to the media can subtly manipulate viewers’ perception of reality and influence our perception of the real world.
If we consume something repeatedly, soon enough we will become assimilated to what we are being ‘fed’ (parallels to the hypodermic needle theory).
Mainstreaming = The idea that, if we all consume the same messages, they become the mainstream ideology. Audiences are passive and become assimilated to the views they are repeatedly told to believe.
Ideology is created by the elite who have power (straight, white, christian men).
Mean World Syndrome (World Mean Index)
TV programmes are saturated with violent content that generates fear.
If we continually consume violent/mean content, we will have a narrow view on the world: suggesting it is more violent than it truly is.
Jamaican born, cultural/hegemonic theorist who moved to Britain before studying English at Oxford University. He worked at the Open University for a number of years, as a professor of sociology
“He looks at how producers use various signs to encode a programme’s meaning, according to their ideologies and resources, which is then decoded by the viewers, who have to interpret the message through their own framework of knowledge.”
The Theory of Preferred Reading
He theorized that media texts contain a variety of messages that are encoded (made/inserted) by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences. Therefore what we consume is a ‘re-presentation’ of the real world, changed by producers to fit the ideologies they want to distribute.
He also communicate the idea that there is often a level of ‘distortion’ from reality through the media. He defines this distortion as the “gap between what one might think of as the true meaning of an event (or an object) and how it is presented in the media.”
Double meaning of the word – Representation. It means ‘to present’ and re-presentation gives the idea that there was ‘something’ in the real world and through the media, this is given a new meaning (re-presented).
Those in power, the elite/hegemony, have the power to limit or widen representations in the media. For example, often in the media Black men are presented as criminals, troublemakers although there is no space given for any positive representations to be portrayed.
He puts forward the idea that media audiences are ACTIVE and decode media messaged based on their SUBJECTIVE IDENTITY, therefore evidencing his point that messages are open for interpretation:
Dominant Reading = How the producer wants the audience to view the product.
Negotiated Reading = A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings.
Oppositional Reading = The audience rejects the dominant meaning and creates their own reading.
https://media-studies.com/reception-theory/
Stereotypes
A large part of his work looks at how the Media represents identity features through stereotypes (negatively or positively) such as: age, gender, race, ethnicity, geography, sexuality etc.
In a lecture from 1997, in which Hall talks about stereotyping, he said that “the image (stereotype) is producing not only identification” but also “producing knowledge”. This is “what we know about the world”, therefore “how we see it represented”
